Abner Herrman & Brock LLC Purchases 229 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Abner Herrman & Brock LLC raised its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,163 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the quarter. Abner Herrman & Brock LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $10,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in APD. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 10,659 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,092,000 after purchasing an additional 1,464 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 9,513 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,759,000 after acquiring an additional 749 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,478 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 16,949 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,916,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Avantra Family Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the fourth quarter worth $231,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $315.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $305.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $350.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $350.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $340.50.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 0.1 %

APD stock opened at $335.36 on Monday. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.24 and a fifty-two week high of $338.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $310.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $299.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $1.79 dividend. This is a positive change from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is 41.68%.

Air Products and Chemicals Company Profile

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment, and related services in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, India, and internationally. The company produces atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and syngas; and specialty gases for customers in various industries, including refining, chemical, manufacturing, electronics, energy production, medical, food, and metals.